A Beautiful Bit of Magic
by kci47
Summary: Little Severus learns what it means to be magical, and vows to use it to his advantage. Some mentions of abuse but nothing graphic. Written for the "Death Eater Childhood" competition on HPFC.
1. Chapter 1

The boy was too young to understand why his parents were fighting. All he could understand were the loud voices, the angry faces, and the way their house-elf Barnabas shushed him and shuffled him away from the living room.

The boy was too young to intervene. All he could do was play quietly, eat his sandwich without complaint, and turn a brave but tear-stained face up to meet his mother's when she sank into the comforting darkness of her room afterwards, matching tear tracks glistening on her face in the darkness.

The boy was too young to know about his abilities. All he could know was that sometimes he felt tingly, he could read people's moods just by looking at them, and his father watched him carefully with distrust shining in his eyes.

At three years old, he did not know he was destined to be a great and terrible wizard.

oOo

Eileen and Tobias Snape were arguing again. Little Severus hated when they argued. His dad would get louder and louder while his mum would cry harder and harder. Eventually there would be a loud "thwack", his dad would leave, and then the house would fall silent. That was when Severus knew to go find his mum and curl up in her arms.

He hated when his mum was sad. She was always sad, it seemed like, so Severus was always sad too. She would hold him and kiss him and tell him stories. Severus loved her stories. They were always the same – a brave young boy named Sev found out he was a wizard with real magic, and he went away to school with other magical children and they were all friends and had great adventures. Severus wished it was true, because he thought if he could take his mum away to the magic school then they could be happy together.

The next time they fought, Severus was stuck in the room with them. He hadn't meant to be, but he'd been in the study with his mum, playing pretend wizard, when his dad burst in, yelling about something. His mum had quickly pushed him behind an armchair. He wasn't sure what had happened to him, but suddenly he couldn't speak or cry or anything. It was like he was frozen. Severus was scared. If his dad found him, he'd be unable to run away.

Severus could feel the tears running down his face, but he couldn't even blink. He listened to his dad yelling at his mum, listened to her crying, listened as his dad started to hit her. If he looked very carefully, he could just see around the edge of the chair. He wished he could move, because he'd – he'd – do _something_. As he crouched behind the armchair, stuck in place, silent, he felt the weird tingles that came sometimes when he was very upset. But this time, the tingles were different – they were very strong. It felt like they were running up and down his whole body.

There was a loud thump as Severus' dad shoved his mum to the floor. The tingles grew warmer and stronger, and Severus wasn't sure how it happened, but suddenly his dad was yelling about something new. The tingles seemed to ripple out from him into the whole room. Looking carefully at his mum, Severus realized that his dad couldn't get close enough to touch her anymore. That was good. Severus wanted to run over to her, to tell her she was safe now, but he still couldn't move.

Tobias' face was turning an uglier shade of red than usual, and now he was threatening to kill Severus' mum if she didn't stop using her magic against him. Magic? Severus thought his dad knew they had just been playing pretend. He wished he could tell his dad that it was all just a game, and then maybe he wouldn't be as mad.

His dad ran out of the room, madder than Severus had ever seen him. All of a sudden he could move again, and he crept towards his mum. She was sitting up slowly and Severus saw the blood gushing from her nose. He stopped, not sure what to do. She smiled, though, and opened her arms for him. Running, he nearly knocked her over again with his enthusiasm.

"Mummy loves you, Sevvy," she whispered, over and over. "It's going to be alright. You're going to be alright."

When Severus asked her why he couldn't move, she just smiled sadly and told him it was part of their game. When he asked her why Dad couldn't reach her anymore, her smile got bigger and she said it was because Severus' love was very powerful magic. Little Severus nodded seriously. He loved his mum a lot.

It wasn't until he was much older that he realized his mum had cast the Body-Bind on him to protect him. It wasn't until he was much older that he realized his magic had first shown itself when he was three years old and he wanted to protect _her_.

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><p><strong>AN:** **Thank you to my beta, Obsessed14! Written in response to MissSadieKane's Death Eater Childhood competition on HPFC. Snape was taken by someone else first but they exchanged him, so I ended up with him! I write a lot of Snape/Hermione stories, but somehow, being given the task of Snape's childhood has been VERY intimidating! If you think I've done him a disservice, let me know.** **I am not J.K. Rowling, even if I did spend a weekend at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida. Frustrating how that doesn't magically turn you into a brilliant author!**


	2. Chapter 2

If Severus had thought things were bad with his dad before, they were nothing compared to the way it was once his dad had found out he could do magic. After that day in the living room, Tobias had been more cautious around the pair of them, and Severus started to hope that things would get better. But it didn't last long.

Little Severus continued to cast Shield Charms whenever his dad was in a rage, and Tobias eventually caught on. He hadn't trusted Severus' mum's explanation from before, and his continued inability to beat on his wife confirmed for him that Severus was just like her.

His anger about Severus' abilities was severe and far-reaching. He starved Severus for nearly a week, trying to drive the magic out of him. When that didn't work, he locked Severus in his room, but Severus soon learned how to magically open the door. Tobias finally attempted to physically chain Severus to the bed, but when Severus heard his mum crying, the cold steel turned as warm and pliable as clay. By the time he was five years old, Severus could wiggle his way out of anything his father used to restrain him, and he had more control over his abilities than any child his mum had ever seen growing up in the Wizarding world. This both worried her and made her exceedingly proud.

October of that year marked the first time that Severus used magic purposefully against another. Several neighborhood boys had taken particular notice of Severus and his dingy gray clothes. The oversized rags were all Tobias allowed him to wear, as Tobias' money primarily went to booze and whores instead of coal for the fire or food for their bellies. Severus' undeniable air of "differentness" drew the bullies like nifflers to gold.

"What are you reading, Snapey?" the largest one, Marcus, asked. Snape knew better than to answer, and forced himself to remain still. He knew from experience that running would only make the inevitable beating worse. Beating… wait… Severus realized that he didn't _have _to sit back and allow these miniature Tobiases to bully him. Not anymore. Not since he'd discovered he was magical.

"Potions? What stupid book is this?" Adam, one of the smaller boys, ripped the book from Severus' hands and threw it in the mud.

The shield sprung up so fast and so strong that all of the boys were knocked off their feet, including Severus. He was the quickest to recover, however, leaping to his feet and grabbing his book. The boys began to stand, as well, advancing on Severus once more.

"Neat trick you got there, Snapey," Marcus taunted him. "But-"

His threat was cut off as Severus knocked them over again. This time he remained standing, and the boys began to look nervous. As they started to rise, Severus focused on what he wanted – and knocked them over, again.

Now the boys looked genuinely scared, and a vengeful smile bloomed on Severus' small face. As the boys tried to run away, he held out his hand, palm forward, reveling in his power as he knocked them over again, and again, and again. As they turned the corner, crying, Severus laughed in delight. No one would be able to bother him ever again!

At that moment, his mum came racing out of the house, a sight which so startled Severus that he stood there, hand still out, mouth agape.

"What are you doing?" she cried, grabbing his arm and brutually tugging him back inside. "We've talked about this, Sevvy! You can't do that with people watching!" Her wide eyes darted up and down the street.

He didn't understand why she was so frightened. Didn't she realize how wonderful this was? Those boys wouldn't be bothering him any more, and if they tried – wham! He'd take care of them. A wondrous smile lit his face at the thought.

"It's okay, Mum," he explained. "Those boys won't-"

"Don't you remember what I told you about using your magic?" his mum hissed frantically. "Not in front of anyone but me! Not against people! Oh, I hope no one saw…" She peered out of their front curtains nervously.

"I use it against Da all the time, though," Severus reasoned. He really didn't understand the difference.

"You- That's- Oh, it's not the same," she blustered. "Your Da, well, he already knows about our magic, doesn't he? But no one else does, and they can't, Sevvy," she whispered. "Besides, you can use it to protect yourself, yes, but it should never be used to attack! What you did to those boys was wrong."

"How come you don't do magic to protect yourself from Da?" Severus asked, curious. His mum's face froze before she turned away.

"That's none of your business," she said crisply. "Go on up to your room until dinner."

His mum was distraught the rest of the afternoon. As Severus lay on his bed, he pondered what she had said to him. Surely what he'd done was just self-defense? He'd enjoyed it, yes, but if he hadn't knocked those boys down they would surely have beaten him up. Right? And why didn't his mum shield herself from Tobias' fists, anyway? Severus was very troubled. If magic was real, if they both had it, why did they stay with Tobias? Why didn't his mum just make it all better?

That night as he drifted off to sleep, Severus decided that his mum was wrong. He had needed to use his magic for his own safety, and he would not hesitate to do so again. He never wanted to feel powerless again in his life – _never_. And he would do whatever it took to ensure that.

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><p><strong>AN: Not JK Rowling, and I (sadly) don't make any money writing. Writing Severus' childhood is terribly intimidating, but I hope I'm going to do him justice. There are about 6 more chapters planned.**


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